The top court Friday confirmed the death sentence for a sergeant who killed five and injured seven in a wild shooting rampage at a military outpost near the eastern inter-Korean border.
The Supreme Court handed down the capital punishment to Lim, 24, for murder of a higher officer and of armed desertion as stated by military law, according to officials.
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| The Supreme Court on Friday confirms a death sentence on the sergeant who killed five and injured seven in a rampage shooting in 2014. Yonhap |
The charged sergeant killed five soldiers and wounded seven others in June 2014 by randomly firing bullets and throwing a hand grenade at the general outpost of the 22nd Army Division in Goseong, Gangwon Province.
He then fled with a fully loaded K-2 rifle and attempted suicide, but was soon arrested and handed over to the military court.
The Defense Ministry’s lower and higher courts consecutively handed down the death penalty last year, claiming that Lim showed no authentic signs of regret.
“It is true that Lim experienced some level of mental distress caused by schooldays bullying, but there is no reason to believe he underwent sufficient pain to justify his action,” the top court said in its ruling.
“His crime was thoroughly planned and cruel, as can be seen in the fact that he also shot at a junior solder who had been kind to him.”
By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)
